Conrad Veidt and his wife Lily called this Beverly Hills house their home from 1940 to 1943. According to Jerry Allen's Conrad Veidt: From Caligari to Casablanca, in the '40s "the house was of white stucco, single story, with green wood trim and a high gabled roof."

Joe May was born Joseph Mandel in Vienna in 1880. As a director and producer in Germany, he was an important pioneer in the new film industry. He worked together with Conrad Veidt on "Das indische Grabmal" (1921, "The Indian Tomb"), and also gave Fritz Lang and other film people their start. In 1902 May had married the Viennese singer Maria Pfleger, who often starred in his films. When Veidt arrived in Hollywood, he discovered his old friends the Mays there. But after arriving in California via London in 1934, May had had difficulty adjusting to the studio system. Following a string of film failures at Fox, Universal, and Monogram (where he directed for the last time in 1944), the Mays tried the restaurant business in 1949, but The Blue Danube closed only weeks after it opened. The Mays now lie at rest only a few miles away from the Veidts' former home.

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